"You're fine now," Agnes whispered, hugging me tightly.
"Pico!" I heard Derek say as he rushed to his pokemon.
The commotion has gathered many trainers around. Most were joining their pokemon to make sure they were fine.
"You," Agnes barked at one of them. "Go get the doctor."
Agnes stopped hugging me to inspect me. Although she noticed my ear and paw bleeding, she remained very calm. She stared into my eyes, talking softly to me to calm me down. The fact that I was in her arms, away from any danger, and that Pico was around to protect me helped me calm down, and although I was still shaking from a mix of pain, fatigue and panic, I was able to think clearly and control myself.
"Is she alright?" Derek asked after making sure that Pico was not injured.
"She is wounded," Agnes retorted, not allowing Derek to even look at me.
Pico didn't try to check on my state. He was sitting behind Derek, his tail and ears down, staring at the floor. He raised his eyes occasionally but would look away as soon as I looked at him.
"What happened?" a male voice I didn't know asked. "Where is Fenrir? Agnes, is that your vulpix?"
It didn't take long for the boy to connect the absence of his pokemon to my wounds.
"Did... oh god. I..."
He gave a hint of several hand movements towards Agnes and I, but stopped himself every time. Looking genuinely worried, he apologized to Agnes before running off to find his pokemon.
"What is going on here?" the doctor asked.
Hearing his voice made me happy. I looked at him rushing to me as Agnes knelt to put me on my back. After a quick glance at me, the vet told Agnes to bring me to his office, and shouted at everyone else to scatter and go back to their business. Derek was not allowed to follow us.
Back in his office, Agnes gave me to the doctor for examination. After a few painful and uncomfortable minutes during which I let him do whatever he wanted to me, he checked my heart, belly, and my wounded paw and ear, and eventually sighed.
"She's fine," he announced, relieved. "Scared and hurt, but not in danger. Her belly didn't suffer any hits either. Her paw is going to need more attention than I can give, so I'll bandage it and focus on the ear for now. Call the pokemon centre and get us a veterinary vehicle."
I could feel him move part of my ear around as Agnes was pulling her phone and calling an ambulance. The teeth of the houndour, as I tripped him, had cut two parallel slices of my ear, and there was a rectangle of it that could flop around one axis. I could feel it rub against the rest of the ear as the doctor was repositioning it properly.
"Why is she bleeding so much?" Agnes asked after her phone call, visibly worried.
"The ear is very thin but has numerous blood vessels," the doctor explained while looking into his cupboards. "It bleeds very easily. The two tears have cut through the marginal ear vein."
"Is it bad?"
"Nothing serious, really. Ear wounds are always minor. Normally, I would cauterize around the veins and let the ear heal with scar tissue, but she's a vulpix and it's going to be difficult to burn her skin. I'm going to stitch instead."
He went to his cupboards, looking for something in them, and came back to me shortly after. He took time to pet me to reassure me, but his words did the opposite:
"You're not going to like this. I need you to stay as still as you can. The ears are around the most sensitive parts of the body," he said as he cleaned the area of my ear around the cuts.
The first time I felt the suturing needle pierce my skin, I jolted so much that I nearly jumped off the table I was standing on, were it not for Agnes holding me strongly but with care. I managed to stand where I was for the other punctures, but it was an extremely unpleasant experience. In total, he gave me four stitches - two deep into the ear, probably near the ruptured veins, and two at the edge to keep the skin properly aligned.
"This will heal rather quickly," he explained. "We'll need to bandage the area. We generally bandage the entire ear around the head, but..."
The doctor looked at me.
"You wouldn't like that, would you?" he asked, not actually expecting a response. "I'll make you another bandage that won't slap your ear against your head. You'll need to change it every second day," he added to Agnes. "For her wrist, she's going to need a set of exams. Depending on what happened, it might be pretty bad. The nurses at the pokemon centre will give you more information."
He cleaned and bandaged my injured wrist before petting me on the head and telling me I'd be fine. Ordering Agnes to wait in the office, he went outside to guide the ambulance to me whenever it arrived.
"Hey Ilma," Agnes suddenly said.
Turning around, I realized that the Ilma Agnes was talking about was none other than the swimming instructor. She jumped onto the table to face me. I couldn't contain my surprise:
"Wait, you're his pokemon?"
"Yes," she replied in a smile. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm injured," I noticed. "It hurts."
"I know," she said, pointing nonchalantly at the missing piece of fin on her left ear. "Be happy your ear is still whole!"
"It's not funny," I pouted, sounding a lot more upset than I meant to show.
Ilma lost her smile and started looking serious.
"What happened?" she asked.
I told her about the stalking houndour and how he had slowly gone from curious classmate to physical aggression. I glossed over the fight, simply saying that had had tried to kill me and I was trying to flee.
"So you've done nothing that could have made him angry?"
I understood that it was sort of a routine question, but the moment she asked it, I felt like my stomach was turned inside out. I felt tears growing in my throat and I simply roared:
"Yeah, I have this ugly-ass belly wound, clearly this is my fault, how dare I live?"
The vaporeon seemed to be taken aback by my reaction, but didn't lose her composure.
"Alright," she simply announced. "Wait for the ambulance now, and don't put your paw on the floor. For your ear, you might want to avoid flapping your head or moving too much. I assume I won't be seeing you in class for the rest of the week, so we'll need to find a way to catch up."
Once at the pokemon hospital, I was directly taken to a small x-ray machine, where the nurses took pictures of my injured wrist. I was disappointed to notice that Nurse Joy wasn't the one to take care of me this time, but she was the one to come back with the x-rays:
"I have good news," she announced, showing the dark paper to Agnes. "She's avoided a lot of trouble. The bite is fairly deep and around the wrist, which could have lead to very serious structural damage. Fortunately for her, there doesn't seem to be any. Her bone is fine, the tendons aren't damaged, and there's no tearing around the wound. However, wrist wounds tend to lead to joint infections, and those are pretty bad. I'm going to put her on high doses of antibiotics and pain medication for a week. If her paw is still swollen after that, you need to bring her back here. The puncture wounds will heal on their own quite quickly, so there should only be minor inconveniences to her mobility. She will know on her own when she can start using her paw again, but once again, avoid exercising and water for a week. You'll need to wash the wound and change the bandage every other day."
"Thanks," Agnes replied.
"She's going to be in a really bad mood for a few days," Nurse Joy continued. "She'll be in pain, even despite the medication. She might refuse to eat, but don't worry if she does. Don't force her to."
She turned to me.
"Can you move your paw around for me?" she asked.
I let her grab my injured paw and move it around to make sure there was no problem. That was quite painful, but I clenched my teeth and remained silent. She was right in thinking that I would be in a bad mood, but I also felt really weary and quite overwhelmed. After giving a few more directions to Agnes, the nurse left, and we left the pokemon centre. A police car was waiting for us outside and took us back to the school. The driver explained that we were to be met by the director to hear the decisions made about the incident.
Derek, Agnes, the houndour who attacked me and Pico had all been summoned to the director's office. We were inside, waiting by ranks, pokemon sitting by their trainer. Agnes had carried me thus far and when I got to sit on the floor, I figured it would be best not to put any strain on my wrist and kept it from touching the floor. Derek and Pico were wisely placed in the middle, and I could feel the houndour's burning hate towards me, and Pico's silent anger, which made the situation extremely awkward. Agnes didn't seem to be angry at all, and the houndour's trainer was confused and very apologetic.
No sooner had the director appeared at the door than the humans froze in a respectful salute. Unsure of what I myself had to do, I peeked at the other two pokemon. They were sitting in a dignified position, flexing muscles. No one moved a hair until after the director's absol joined in and sat by his master, who simply ordered:
"At ease."
The atmosphere was very different from the friendly, relaxed one I noticed when I had first come in this office. It was very clear that this was a very serious situation, and proper discipline was to be expected from everyone.
The school's doctor and his vaporeon joined shortly after and stood by the director.
He sighed.
"Let me make it clear," he announced. "Never in this school have two pokemon been caught fighting like this. You're setting an unprecedented event, and not a good one at that. I hope you're aware of it."
There was no answer. I could feel that everyone was very uneasy, almost scared.
"Now, we don't know exactly why this happened, but we know what happened. Based on the report I was given by Doctor Belish and his vaporeon Ilma, the situation is clear. Neither Pico nor Fenrir show any form of injury whatsoever, not even a bruise, while Ruby had to be taken to the pokemon centre in emergency. There are traces of blood in the stadium and I don't think you'd be surprised to learn who it belongs to. Considering the fact that your houndour was given chase and apprehended by several pokemon while Pico stayed with Ruby and was clearly protecting her, it's pretty obvious that this was an aggression."
The director stared at the houndour's trainer.
"Any explanations?"
"I don't know, sir," he instantly replied, become stiff as a stick. "Fenrir has never acted like this before. At least not before his sister's death."
The doctor intervened:
"His sister is the houndour that died in the pokemon centre almost two months ago, right?"
"Yes, sir. We've only been able to give her a proper burial last Saturday. The police were denying that for their investigation."
The director and the doctor met eyes for a short moment.
"Very well. Since this is clearly a case of aggression, you'll be considered fully responsible for the events."
"Yes, sir," the houndour's trainer muttered in a hiccup.
"However, considering the circumstances, I don't think a full punishment is in order, at least for you. You're suspended for a month. Mourn the death of Fenrir's sister, spend some time with him, and come back anew. You're also tasked with moping the stadium to get rid of the blood your pokemon spilled. Fenrir will be sent to canine training section starting next week."
"Yes, sir. Thank you."
"Derek," the director said, turning to Agnes' friend.
"Sir!"
"Your pokemon's intervention may very well have saved Ruby's life. He was able to drive the aggressor off of her and show enough restraint to stay by her side until she was safe. He and the pokemon who gave chase to Fenrir are to be commended on their behaviour."
"Thank you, sir."
"You're off the hook for this one. Make sure that Pico stays around Ruby at all times."
"We will, sir. Thank you."
"Agnes."
"Sir?"
"Ruby clearly is a victim in this issue, so there will be no punishment for you either. She will need to rest until her wounds heal, so you may take the week off if you so desire and spend that time with your pokemon."
Agnes looked at me, as if to ask for my approval. I shook my head from left to right. I couldn't let her miss classes because of me. Hesitating a few seconds, she nodded and turned back to the director:
"Thank you, sir. With all due respect, I must refuse. I am in perfect health condition so I can continue my training. Ruby agrees with me."
The director looked at me, visibly surprised by my decision.
"Very well," he concluded after a few seconds. "Dismissed."
As we were about to leave the door, Doctor Belish tapped on Agnes' shoulder.
"Bring Ruby in tomorrow, please. I think Ilma would like to see her."
The vaporeon confirmed in a nod.
"Very well," Agnes said before lifting me up and taking her leave.
"Are you alright?" Agnes asked me once we were in the car.
I nodded. I was, for the most part, actually alright, now that I had time to digest all the feelings, and although my body was horribly painful, I felt strangely excited. It was probably just the adrenaline rush that wasn't gone yet, but I had a lingering feeling that I couldn't describe. Promising myself to dwell on it and try to identify it, I laid as I could on my seat as Agnes drove home, petting me at every chance she had. She didn't let me walk from the car to the mansion and carried me straight to my pillow, where Topa met me with worried eyes.
"Are you alright? What happened?"
"Later," I said, grumpy and exhausted. "I'm tired, I want to sleep."
I said that as an excuse to have some time alone to be able to process what happened. Topa probably guessed it and agreed to leave me.
I felt lost and humiliated. I didn't understand why the houndour's loss had brought him to attack me. It surprised me even more because it was absolutely not something I would have expected of an animal, as I wasn't even certain they understood the concept of death. Pokemon obviously did understand it, but even then, there was no reason to attack me unless he considered me responsible for his sister's death, as if I had killed her myself.
Was that what he actually thought? Was that what others might think too? How could they even reach such conclusion when I myself had been a victim of the same attack as she, except I survived and she didn't? Did the mere fact that I survived make me guilty? Did that houndour, and possibly others, think that I did not deserve to live? Should I have been feeling guilty of surviving? What did I even think about that? The houndour was now the second one to try to kill me because I survived something another pokemon died of, following his sister's trainer. Should I expect more people to try it? If that was the case, then I needed to learn how to defend myself as soon as possible, or I wouldn't last very long in this world.
And then, what happens? What if I died? Would I turn back into a human? Would I turn into something else? Would I... simply die?
I heard Agnes come at the door, silently staring at me. I was pretending to sleep and didn't raise my eyes to her, but I could hear her sigh. As she switched the lights off before leaving, she whispered:
"You and I are going to have a tough life together. I hope you can handle it."
I was woken up the morning after by Agnes, who was gently stroking the top of my head, carefully avoiding my wounded ear.
"Hey Ruby, how are you feeling?"
I felt a lot less excited than the day before, but surprisingly, I didn't feel particularly depressed or upset. Although my paw and my ear were really painful, I was physically rather well, albeit annoyed that I had to spend yet another week in bed. Trying to reassure my trainer, I joyfully responded.
"Ilma said she wanted to talk to you, remember? I'll take you to her this afternoon, but until then, you can rest all you want. I'm going to carry you downstairs so you can eat something and take your medicine, okay?"
I nodded and she did what she said. When eating, I noticed that pills had been mixed with my food, but I didn't feel offended by it. It just made it easier for me to take them. I wasn't too sure what they were, but I remembered the nurse talking about painkillers, and considering the state of my paw particularly, I was more than happy to take them. After I was done eating and Agnes left, Rakuen carried me back to my pillow and spent some time brushing as much of my fur as she could reach. She didn't look very worried, but at the same time, she was being very careful. Finally, the humans left me alone, and Topa joined me in the room.
"How are you feeling?" she asked again.
"I'm... fine," I replied after a short hesitation. "And I mean it. My leg and my ear hurt, but I'm not depressed or upset. Just... a bit lost."
"What happened?"
I described to her the events of the day before, trying to be as accurate as possible. She listened very carefully, especially when I described the fight, and didn't interrupt me at all. After I was done, she waited a few minutes, seemingly thoughtful, before saying:
"I am surprised this did not upset you more than that. It seems you are a lot less depressed than you were just a week ago."
"Yeah, I don't know. I don't feel depressed. I mean... I still don't know why I turned into a vulpix and it still bothers me, but I've pretty much come to terms with it. Gotta live on, right?"
She smiled.
"It does me good to see some positivity from you. So, tell me, what did you learn from this?"
"The aggression?"
"Yes."
"Well... I suck at fighting. He completely dominated me, I didn't stand the slightest ghost of a chance. Pico saved my skin there. I owe him."
"That is not what I think," she replied.
"I don't owe him anything? He saved my life."
"Not that. I think you did extremely well in the fight. You said you managed to throw him to the ground twice, is that correct?"
"Yeah?"
"That is quite the feat, especially when the strength difference is so big. You also had a lot of good reactions. Trying to turn on your belly to stop him from accessing your throat was a wise move if you knew you stood no chance of winning. How did you make him fall twice?"
"I just... applied stuff I learnt as a human from martial arts and it worked."
She nodded.
"We need to wrestle," she announced.
"I can't," I replied, waving my wounded paw at her.
"Not now. When you are allowed to exercise again, we need to wrestle. You need to learn how to fight. I am not very good at it, but any experience will do you good."
"I'd rather learn how to battle," I pouted.
"That, too. We have a lot to do. How soon will you be allowed to exercise again?"
"Nurse said about a week, but I don't think I'll need to wait that much."
"Alright. As soon as you feel confident about the state of your paw, tell me."
"When will I learn more moves?" I whined.
"After you learn how to use Ember in a battle, I will teach you other moves."
I pouted. I was looking forward to learning more moves, and I felt like using only Ember was going to be a sizeable disadvantage. I couldn't wait to learn Will-O-Wisp myself and make my own shiny blue wisps.
The whole morning was excessively boring. Although I didn't feel much pain anymore thanks to the medication, my paw was still very stiff and tense and it made me very irritable. The humans had obviously been warned and avoided me, even Rakuen despite her tendency to be clingy every since I allowed her to pet me. I couldn't even walk to go to the pokemon training room and release my nerves in flames. Topa regularly came to check on me, but we didn't talk much. Despite resting plenty, I felt exhausted and weary. All I wanted was for these new wounds to heal so I could go back to exercising. I even caught myself looking forward to swimming lessons again.
Thinking back about them, I realized that I had grown to like Ilma, and was wondering what she wanted to talk about. She was likely going to question me about my mental or physical state after the fight. Would I be wrong to confide in her? I was hiding my thoughts even from Topa, whom I knew loved me too much to be truly objective, but would the vaporeon be able to think more objectively? If so, was she intelligent enough to be able to answer my questions and help me with my thought process? Would it be a mistake to talk to a teacher about my problems?
I wasn't sure what to do anymore. I didn't want to bother Topa with what I was thinking, but I knew I needed to talk to someone. Of all the people and pokemon who could have tried to talk to me or get me to talk to them, Ilma was the first one to have come forward.
I shook my head. If I couldn't make a decision, there was no point in dwelling on questions that couldn't be answered. All I needed was to wait and decide as I was talking to her. I wasn't sure if I could trust her, and there was only one way to find out.